Commodity package



y 1952 G. H. HARRY 2,598,373

COMMODITY PACKAGE Filed Feb. 9, 1950 2 SHEETSSHEET 1 ou How I 4 WCHES &SNAC

4 /a 12 l l/ INVENTOR.

George H Harry QQM,

ATTORN EYS.

G. H. HARRY COMMODITY PACKAGE May 27, 1952 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2 Filed Feb. 9, 1350 V 0/ 2&1 222 a i A/ g w 0 MN 9H m 5 WN/ W m H H e M 0 6 c H m P 4 a W J n I my .m :2. W. N

Patented May 27, 1952 UNITED STATES ism oFFlcE My invention relates in general to a commodity package, and in particular to a package for relatively thin slices or patties of meat or other food commodities.

My invention has specifically to do with the packaging of what is known as Chip Steaks which consist of relatively thin portions of prepared beef. These steaks have heretofore been wrapped by hand, and it is an object of my invention to provide a package for such steaks so that they may be wrapped by machine.

It is well known to those skilled in the art that when handling flexible materials in a wrapping machine, some suitable stiffening material must be placed under or within the material to give it sufdcient rigidity while being wrapped. The present day use of such stiffening members, however, adds expense to the package and has no merchandising or advertising value.

The principal object of my invention is to provide a stiffening member which may be placed on top of the food commodity so as to make the top surface of the member available for advertising purposes.

Another object has been to provide a stifiening member formed with a centrally arranged opening to expose to view a portion of the commodity and its inner wrapper.

The above objects and advantages have been accomplished by the device shown in the accompanying drawings, of which:

Fig. 1 is a top plan view of my complete package;

Fig. 2 is a sectional view taken on line IIII of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a bottom plan view of a modified form of package;

Fig. 4 is a sectional view of the form of Fig. 3 and is taken on line IVIV thereof; and

Fig. 5 is a sectional View of the modification and is taken on line V-V of Fig. 3.

As hereinbefore stated, the articles for which my package is originally designed are Chip Steaks, but it is obvious that the invention'is applicable to any other food commodity, particularly of that type which is flexible and relatively thin.

It is customary to place about these steaks indicated by the numeral In an inner wrapper II, which is preferably of some suitably treated paper such as wax paper which bears certain printed matter such as instructions for the preparation of the steak and advertising. This inner wrapper, shown in Fig. 2, extends across the entire bottom of the steak, up one side and only part way 1 Claim. (01.99-1'l'fi) I 2 over the top thereof, thus exposing the upper portion of it to view.

In order to make it possible to wrap the steak with its inner wrapper by machinery, I employ a flat stifiening member l2 the edges of which are entirely free throughout. This member is positioned on the top only of the food commodity and rests on top of the inner wrapper and the exposed portion of the commodity so that its upper surface may be utilized to display certain printed advertising matter relating to the commodity. The stiffening member is formed with a centrally arranged opening l3 of such dimensions as to expose a portion of the commodity and the inner wrapper. After the package has been assembled as just above described, it is wrapped in an outer wrapper [4 of transparent material, the ends of which are secured together by any suitable means.

In the modified form of invention shown in Figs. 3 to 5 inclusive, I show my package as applied to the merchandising of a number of chip steaks l0 arranged one on top of the other in a pile. In this modification, the stiffening member 20 is formed at each of two opposite sides with a downwardly extending spacing flange 2| of a width which corresponds substantially to the combined thickness of the number of steaks and their inner wrappers H. In this form of the invention, it is preferable to connect the free edges of the flanges together, and for this purpose, I employ a reinforcing strap 22 which may be made integral with one of the flanges and formed at its free end with an upstanding tab 23 or which may be made separate from the member and formed at both ends with a tab for engagement with either the inner or outer surfaces of the flanges and which may be secured thereto by any suitable adhesive.

In this form of the invention, the chip steaks with their inner wrappers are first placed in a pile, after which the stiffening member is placed over them, and the strap, which has been previously placed beneath them, is fastened in place. The complete assembly is then enclosed within the outer wrapper 24, as in the other form of the invention.

While I have shown the outer wrapper as being folded over on top of assembled package, it is obvious that the fold of this wrapper may be placed at the bottom of the package thus interfering to a lesser degree with the printed matter borne by stiffening member. Furthermore, in the modified form of the invention, the reinforcing strap 22 may have a portion formed in- 3 tegrally with or attached to each of the tabs 23 and have the free ends of these portions secured together in overlapped relation.

What I claim is:

A meat package comprising an opaque inner wrapper for the commodity, said inner wrapper having a bottom portion extending over substantially the entire bottom surface of the commodity and a top folded-over portion extending over a portion of the top of the commodity to expose a substantial portion of the commodity to view and presenting a surface on the wrapper for the imprinting of descriptive matter to view, an individual substantially flat opaque stiffening memher of substantially the same dimensions as the 15 for exposing the imprinted portion of the top of the inner wrapper and the portion of the exposed area of the commodity, said stifiening member presenting an exposed surface for receiving printed matter, and an outer transparent wrapper completely enclosing the inner wrapper, stifiening member and the commodity.

GEORGE H. HARRY.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,752,504 Penrose Apr. 1, 1930 1,773,080 Birdseye Aug. 12, 1930 2,306,624 Harris Dec. 29, 1942 2,555,033 Harris May 29, 1951 

